Hi folks! New guy here!
My brother just presented me with the 12 ga. dbl hammergun our grampa picked up in Europe after WW1! The locks are stamped JOHN BUCKINGHAM ENGLAND and the toprib is stamped ENGLAND LAMINATED STEEL with a nice spiral pattern on the barrels. All steel parts are nicely engraved and the wood(?) buttplate has a nice birdhunting scene w/roccoco vines carved into it! The pistol grip wrist is fully checkered. Circa 1860 to 1880?
Google searches for this builder have come up empty. I posted this inquiry on the americanlongrifles.com sight, where I usually hang out(I'm a muzzleloading gun builder), and was given a link to this sight. I have taken pics but haven't had time to download them to my photobucket. I will post some pics if anyone's interested.
Does anyone here have information, timeline & value (not for sale)for this builder??? THANKS!
The name John Buckingham dose not appear in any of my reference books pertaining to the English gun trade. In all probality, it was a gun made by the Birmingham trade and sold under the name of a hardware store[Ironmonger in the U.K.]
Details of the proof marks will help to establish the origin of your gun, can you post same for review?
An outside possibility exists that the name Buckingham relates to a city of that name in Buckinghamshire, England.However the only gunmaker listed in Buckingham is John Meeham, Bridge Street, in 1852
The name John Buckingham dose not appear in any of my reference books pertaining to the English gun trade. In all probality, it was a gun made by the Birmingham trade and sold under the name of a hardware store[Ironmonger in the U.K.]
Details of the proof marks will help to establish the origin of your gun, can you post same for review?
An outside possibility exists that the name Buckingham relates to a city of that name in Buckinghamshire, England.However the only gunmaker listed in Buckingham is John Meeham, Bridge Street, in 1852
What type of proof marks are on the gun?
As Roy suggests, it may be a small retailer of B'ham made gun. It also may be a Belgian gun in English disguise - if there was ever a name that tried to sound more English ("John Buckingham England") I don't know what it would be.
Let us know what you find.
Ken
I'll try to post pics of the gun & proof marks tomorrow. Right now I am assuming JOHN is a surname and BUCKINGHAM is the shop location.
tomcast: Please post close up pics of the damascus pattern also. In the 1891 Birmingham Proof House testing, English 3 Iron Laminated Steel was the winner of almost 40 damascus and twist barrels tested.
What are the odds on the proof marks being Liege?
s - 'bout 50:50 right now. However, we are promised photos, so we will be able to resolve it.
tomcast - welcome.
Hmmmm! I see most of a Birmingham set of proofs, but I don't see the view mark and the final BP proof mark. There appears to be a Birmingham provisional proof on each barrel. It looks like it is a lower cost colonial grade gun. I dunno. Maybe one of the more expert guys will weigh in.
The 14 stamped on the barrels of your gun should mean that it is bored as a fourteen gauge. If it chambers a 12 gauge shell something is drastically wrong!!!The gun looks to be of Belgian manufacture, despite the partial British proof marks.The use of fake British proof marks and makers names, was a significant problem for the British trade at the time this gun was made.
Looking at the condition of the gun I would consider it to be a wall hanger. Hope you are not too dissapointed.
Roy, no I'm not disapointed or suprised. I guess that affects the value quite a bit, my brother will be disapointed though. He thought it was worth 2 or 3 thousand.
It also has a 12 in the diamond next to the 14 and the 12 has a C under it. Kinda hard to see. I thought this might mean choked 12 ga. If it was originally 14 ga, then someone bored & chambered it out to 12 at a later date. I doubt that because the muzzles look to be the right thickness for a 12. The barrels are original to the receiver, as all the numbers match.
And definitely twist steel barrels, despite the 'Laminated' stamp on the rib. I added the pics of the rib and brls to the 'Damascus Barrels' PictureTrail as a warning and you've possibly done a bunch of guys a real favor by starting this thread
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery.fcgi?p=999&gid=16082038
Thanks. Almost surely a hardware store farm gun, but I will try and take some pics if I can.
Not that unusual to find 12 bore chambered guns with tight barrels measuring at 14 bore or even down to 15 from that early era. Just has black powder marks but not complete. The thing that puzzles me are the many stampings of the word 'England'. That sets the suspicious mind going. The butt plate design is about as non-English as you can get. May be spurious. As a gift it makes a nice wall piece. Lagopus.....
Roy, no I'm not disapointed or suprised. I guess that affects the value quite a bit, my brother will be disapointed though. He thought it was worth 2 or 3 thousand.
It also has a 12 in the diamond next to the 14 and the 12 has a C under it. Kinda hard to see. I thought this might mean choked 12 ga. If it was originally 14 ga, then someone bored & chambered it out to 12 at a later date. I doubt that because the muzzles look to be the right thickness for a 12. The barrels are original to the receiver, as all the numbers match.
I actually had a high end German gun at one time that appeared to be a 14 that had been bored to 12, because the bore and chamber cast indicated this. However, I later found that the maker had a whole line of proprietary shotgun chamberings just like a lot of german rifle and drilling builders. One they pushed was a 14 bore with a cartridge very clos to a 12.
